NEWS | Decathlon Spells Out Why Tents Should Not Be Left Behind This Festival Season

June 12, 2024 Shell Robshaw-Bryan

camping news, Festival Camping, Homepage Feature

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Decathlon is offering refunds on its range of tents to stop them being ditched in a bid to reduce the vast number of tents left behind at festivals in the UK each year.

Decathlon is offering to buy back tents from customers to stop them being abandoned at music festivals this summer. Around 250,000 tents are ditched each year in the UK, with most ending up in landfill.

As festival season sweeps across the nation this summer, Decathlon and presenter Jo Whiley are reminding festivalgoers of the damaging environmental impacts of leaving their tent behind and why it’s important that every tent needs to make its way home.

Decathlon has partnered with charities to repurpose 250 pieces of campaign equipment – each one representing 1000 tents that are left behind at festivals – to create a unique visual, inspiring festival lovers to keep their tents post-festival. Despite a declining trend in abandoned tents at festivals, there’s still a significant volume left behind, with visitors of one UK’s most popular festivals leaving behind over 2,000 tonnes annually, equating to nearly 10kg per visitor.

Around 250,000 tents go to landfill in the UK each year following festival season and Decathlon is helping to reduce that number by bringing back the Tent Pledge, nationwide.

This year, from now until the 13^th September, 10 tents are eligible as part of the Tent Pledge, meaning customers can buy anything from the MH100 XXL 4-person tent to the original MH100 2 person tent at festivals.

As a reward for not leaving any tent behind, Decathlon is guaranteeing a full refund in the form of a gift card to spend in store, even after using it at a festival. Like last year, the tents will be returned, refurbed, cleaned and resold through Decathlon’s Second Life programme, to extend the lifespan of the tents and reduce single-use consumption.

Chris Allen, Sustainability Leader at Decathlon UK, comments: “We’re relaunching the No Tent Left Behind campaign with the biggest Tent Pledge following the success of last year. 100% of the tents returned in 2023 were refurbished and resold through Decathlon’s Secondlife scheme.

We want to make an even bigger impact and encourage our customers to choose sustainable habits whilst they’re enjoying themselves. We continue our commitment to reducing our environmental impact and hope our customers will be inspired to do the same.”

Jo Whiley Broadcaster, said: “Like all music and festival lovers, I’m excited for the fantastic lineup of artists I’m going to see during this year’s festival season.

Decathlon’s ‘No Tent Left Behind’ campaign is a great reminder to festival goers to make sure they enjoy their experience, but in a sustainable way. By doing this you can even make money to shop for your next adventure!’

Decathlon Festival Tent Pledge

Ten models of tents are included in Decathlon’s Tent Pledge, including:

Quechua MH100 Tent – Simplify your camping experience with this efficient 2-person tent, boasting a freestanding dome structure for hassle-free setup and optimal airflow. Equipped with one top air vent, it minimizes natural condensation.
MH100 3-Person Tent – Enjoy the cool darkness in this 3-person tent featuring innovative Fresh&Black technology, while its freestanding dome structure allows easy relocation for optimal positioning.
MH100 XXL 4-Person Tent – Experience spacious comfort in this extra-large tent, featuring a user-friendly tunnel structure for easy assembly. Designed with a living-room space, flysheet, and vents for efficient heat reduction.

The Festival Tent Pledge is now available at all Decathlon stores nationwide and to find your closest store and you can shop Decathlon tents here.